Linked
by bionsena
Summary: In a world where everyone has a soul mate, John Watson has finally found his. Unfortunately that someone is the only person who doesn't seem to want anything to do with what fate has decided.


Everyone has the words. They can be anywhere on your body but they were only there for one purpose. They lead you to your soul mate and the words applied to them and only them. The trouble was that anything could be written there and you could sometimes spend years with your soul mate before realising they were meant for you. Some people only discovered they were soul mates by matching handwriting. The words were always in the others handwriting.

It was an incredibly intimate thing to show someone your words and you never did it unless you knew they were your soul mate.

Just like the rest of the world, John Watson's words appeared exactly one hour after he was born. The doctors had to record the words, the colour they were written in and where they were placed. John's words were black and written just under his left wrist. The handwriting was remarkably elegant. None of these facts however are what caused John's parents to exchange puzzled looks.

It was the words themselves.

...

By the time John was ten he already understood why people had the words. He couldn't wait to find his soul mate but his words confused him as much as they did his parents. Harry's words said _Clara Bradbury _in vibrant blue. You couldn't get clearer than that and John spent years feeling so incredibly jealous of his sister. He hid his words with his watch and never showed them to anyone.

Then his father died and John watched as his mother cried as she watched her words disappear a little more every day. It took two weeks for them to disappear completely and losing them seemed to cause her physical pain. John vowed to himself that if he ever found the person he was meant to be with that he wouldn't let them go.

As the years went by it occurred to him that maybe his soul mate didn't want him either. Most people had found their soul mate by the time they hit twenty five. John still hadn't found his at thirty six and he wasn't sure whether he was relieved or not. There was no one that he had already met that he wanted to be his soul mate. He glanced at the words everyday just to make sure they were still there. What if they had died without him ever having met them.

Thankfully the words were as bold as ever and John told himself to be patient. It was rare that anybody didn't meet their soul mate eventually. Then he was invalided home from the army and met Sherlock Holmes.

...

John didn't realise that his words were meant for Sherlock at first. Not until the end of their first case with the serial killer cabbie. When he finally realised the possibility he waited until after he'd moved in and then on one rare occasion that Sherlock left the flat without him he scoured it looking for evidence of his flatmates handwriting.

He finally found a set of hastily written notes about an experiment and his mouth went dry. He stared at the pages for what seemed like hours tracing the loops and curves that were as familiar as his own handwriting. There was no doubt that his words were Sherlock's.

Self-proclaimed sociopath who very firmly insisted that he was married to his work. Sherlock didn't even like the idea of soul mates. He scowled every time somebody used the term and he seemed especially irritated at the words that linked his brother to DI Lestrade.

_Great_. John swallowed the bitterness rising in his throat. He'd waited all this time for his soul mate and the fates had chosen him the one person on the entire planet who would never have him. The unfairness of it all threatened to consume him and he replaced the pieces of paper back where he found them and fled to his room so that he wouldn't have to face Sherlock when he came home. He sat on his bed and stared at his words angrily as though he could make them disappear.

Did Sherlock know? Was he aware that somewhere on his body were the words that linked him irreparably to John Watson? If he did then he was being deliberately cruel but if he didn't then John was quite happy to let him remain in ignorance. That way he could avoid the rejection he was bound to get.

...

It became harder and harder to hide, especially now that John knew Sherlock was his soul mate it was inevitable that he would fall in love with him. This did not help.

Having Sherlock's life in danger at the pool was the first sign that he'd fallen into the same trap as everyone else. Watching his friends face crumble slightly when John came out to greet him at the pool. Those first brief seconds where Sherlock thought he was Moriarty and couldn't comprehend the idea filled him with something that was suspiciously like hope.

He told himself to stop being ridiculous but it became harder to deny his feelings especially when they met Irene Adler and she flat out told him that he was in love with Sherlock. He scoffed at her but that would explain why he wanted to rip her head off when she flirted at Sherlock.

It was too late to deny by the time they went to Baskerville and John forgave him for drugging him and locking him in a lab. He would forgive Sherlock anything.

Except jumping off a building maybe.

...

That was the worst moment off John's life when he watched Sherlock step off the edge. He felt like he was being ripped in two. He couldn't bear to watch his words disappear and so he refused to look at them until the two week deadline had passed.

The utter shock he felt when he looked down at his wrist and saw they were still there. Bold as ever. John almost cried in relief. Sherlock was alive and even though he had no idea how he didn't care. He was angry as hell that Sherlock had felt the need to trick him but at the same time he finally knew that Sherlock didn't know. He didn't know that he was meant for John. If he had then he would have known that he couldn't fool John into thinking he was dead.

So John waited. He pretended he was devastated; he even mustered up a few tears for the funeral but he would just keep glancing at his words and try to hide a smile.

When Sherlock finally returned, name cleared and Moriarty's network utterly destroyed, he and John merely stared at each other for a few moments before John asked him if he wanted some tea. The look on Sherlock's face was the funniest thing he had ever seen. The detective was flabbergasted, he had clearly been expecting shock or perhaps he'd thought John would punch him in the face. John merely handed him his tea and sat down awaiting an explanation.

When Sherlock had finished his story, John simply nodded once, picked up the newspaper. He counted to thirty before Sherlock finally broke.

"How did you know?"

John lets out a breath and knows it's now or never. He says nothing and instead rolls up his left sleeve and shows Sherlock his wrist.

He can't bring himself to look at Sherlock though he does hear a sharp intake of breath. He waits for Sherlock to say something and is surprised to hear a choked laugh. His eyes flick to his friend in confusion as Sherlock lets out a whisper.

"I thought mine was Moriarty."

John just blinked at him in shock. Not because Sherlock had thought his soul mate was a deranged lunatic but because the tone he whispers the words with is one of utter relief and delight. The other man is beaming at him now but John remains confused until his flatmate unbuttons his shirt and displays the word written under his collarbone.

Red as blood against his pale skin there is a single word displayed on Sherlock Holmes.

_Heart._

John understands now and his mind flashes back to the pool and to Moriarty saying "I will burn the heart out of you." Sherlock had thought that had meant Moriarty had known what his word said and that he must be his soul mate.

But John couldn't concentrate on that for very long his eyes were too busy staring at Sherlock's word. The word written in John's handwriting and he thinks he might just burst. Then Sherlock is grabbing John's hands and letting out a rush of dialogue.

"I understand now. I understand my word. I thought I never would. Moriarty said I had a heart and he was right. I just couldn't find it until you came into my life."

Whatever Sherlock might have said next was never discovered because John was busy kissing him. Later that night John looked at his soul mate lying next to him and then looked at his words again and smiled.

_Because you're an idiot._

**A/N Companion piece about Mycroft and DI Lestrade is now up. It's called Missing Link. I hope you liked this.**


End file.
